Domestic equities market sustains bearish trend as investors lose N75bn

The domestics equities market sustained a bearish trend from Monday as investors recorded a loss of N75.1 billion.

The all-share index (ASI) was down to close at 24,883.70 points, compared to Monday’s trading session which was down by 25,027.61 points.

The market capitalisation fell from N13.1 trillion from Monday to N12.98 trillion on Tuesday.

Month-to-date (MTD) gain moderated to 0.8 percent while year-to-date (YTD) loss settled at -7.3 percent.

Activity level improved as volume and value traded appreciated 17.5 percent and 73.6 percent to 206.0 million units and N2.5 billion, respectively, in 3,925 deals.

Meanwhile, on Monday, total volume of shares traded rose by 4.9 percent with an exchange of 175.33 million shares worth N1.43 billion in 4,294 deals.

The top traded stocks by volume were Access Bank (29.2 million units), Fidelity Bank (27.8 million units) and Guaranty Trust Bank (25.3 million units).

For the top traded stocks by value, Guaranty Trust Bank (N625.6 million), Dangote Cement (N368.5 million) and Zenith Bank (N257.8 million), took the lead.

Across the top Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) sectors, performance was bullish as three indices gained while two lost.

The banking and consumer goods indices advanced 0.52 percent and 0.93 percent, respectively, due to buying interest in Guaranty Trust Bank, Ecobank, Nigerian Breweries and Cadbury.

Also, the oil and gas index gained 0.26 percent following price increase in Ardova.

Meanwhile, insurance and industrial goods indices declined by 2.48 percent and 2.16 percent, respectively.

Market breadth decreased as 16 stocks gained against the 17 decliners. The top gainers were Cadbury, Nigerian Breweries and Mutual Benefits Assurance.

Prestige Assurance, Ikeja Hotel and Consolidated Hallmark Insurance were the top losers.